Twinkle Lights
by wanheda08
Summary: Their first Christmas as a family is going to be perfect if Owen has anything to say about it. (One shot)


Teddy Altman sighed heavily as she unlocked the back door. After a grueling sixteen hour day, which included two back to back emergency surgeries, the cardio surgeon was dead on her feet and ready to take a long, hot shower, drink a glass of wine, kiss her babies good night, and finally curl up in bed with Owen. As she sat her bag down on the floor beside the kitchen counter, dropping her keys on the marble countertop, the blonde wondered where her family was. It was a little after 9 which meant that Ali, a nickname which her daddy had bestowed upon her when she was only hours old, was probably already down for the night, but this was Leo's usual bath time; yet she didn't hear her son's usual shrill bath time giggles echoing down the hallway.

Shrugging a shoulder in confusion, Teddy made her way down the hall in search of her children's father. Her mind was once again whirling with thoughts of Owen, Leo, and Ali, but also of her patients, the hospital, and Tom Korascik, who was somewhat relentless in reminding her of his feelings for her. She tried her best to steer clear of the man, but sometimes that was easier said than done. Teddy did admit that she was somewhat responsible for his actions because she had led him on in a way because she had always known that her love for Owen could never be overcome by feelings for Tom, but at this point, she needed the man to take a hint because she didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to be polite when brushing him off.

Still stewing over her thoughts of Tom as she made it to the bathroom door, Teddy realized that Leo was in fact not in the bathtub. Now even more confused, she made her way to the boy's room to see if Owen had already put the toddler to bed, but again came up empty-handed. She was getting slightly worried as she continued down the hall to the room that she and Owen shared.

'Where on earth are they?' she thought to herself. She pulled out her phone to check for a missed call or text saying that Owen had to go back to the hospital but remembered that Owen's car was in the driveway when she got home. "Maybe they are watching a movie in our bed." the blonde whispered to herself.

She was again disappointed when she opened the bedroom door to find an empty bed. Suddenly a wave of anxiety swept over her. Quickly raking her eyes around the room, they came to rest on a small piece of paper lying on the corner of the bed.

"Put on something comfy and come to the living room. -O"

Relief poured over her, washing away her fear as quickly as it had come. At least now she knew that they were home, even if she had no clue what Owen was up to.

Teddy, following Owen's directions, opened the top drawer of her dresser, pulling out a well worn pair of yoga pants and one of Owen's old Army shirts that she had swiped when he had come to visit her in Germany what seemed like ages ago. Part of her had almost thrown it away after that catastrophic visit, but now she was very glad that she had kept it.

Once she had traded her scrubs for her comfier clothes, Teddy threw her blonde curls into a loose ponytail and made her way to the living room as instructed, mentally kicking herself as she remembered they still needed to buy and decorate a Christmas tree with Leo as well as decorate the rest of the house. The box of ornaments from Owen's had been hauled up to the attic when they moved in and the few ornaments they had purchased as a family were still in the bag in the master bedroom. Teddy began creating a list in her head of all the decorations they still needed for the house because this was her first Christmas with Owen AND her first as a mom, so she wanted to make sure that their first Christmas as a family was a perfect one.

So wrapped up in her thoughts, Teddy stopped short as she came through the living room door. The room in front of her had been transformed into a small Christmas wonderland. There were lights around the window and hanging from the mantle, illuminating four stockings that held each of their names. The bookshelves were draped with garland, and there were what appeared to be handmade snowflakes hanging from a few of the shelves as well. A new blanket with Santa on it was displayed across the back of the sofa, complete with matching throw pillows. There was also Christmas music softly playing, and a fire crackling in the fireplace. But the most beautiful part of the room was the giant tree in the corner, covered in twinkle lights; sitting just underneath was the box of ornaments waiting to be put on the tree.

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked around, her eyes lighting on her son, daughter, and their father lying under the edge of the tree, watching the lights change color. She cleared her throat, and a small, curly head shot up with wide eyes.

"Mama!" shrieked Leo, as he clumsily got to his feet and ran to her, wrapping his chubby arms around her legs. "You're home! I miss-ed up today!"

Hauling the almost three year old into her arms, she snuggled her nose in his hair, relishing the after bath scent that lingered there, and said, "I missed you too, my sweet boy." Teddy had felt overwhelmed mothering Owen's son when their relationship first began, but now, almost eight months later, the sound of Leo calling her mama and the weight of him sitting on her hip were some of the most precious things in her life.

Without putting the toddler down, the blonde made her way over to where Owen was now sitting up; Ali still peacefully lying beside the tree, mesmerized by the lights. She quickly sat down beside the red head and settled Leo in her lap, his thumb automatically going to his mouth.

"I can't believe you did all this!" Teddy exclaimed as she leaned over to steal a kiss. "I was just thinking about decorations as I was coming in here, but it looks like you beat me to it."

"Well," Owen replied, with a large grin on his face, "Meredith called me when you went into your second surgery and said that you were having a rough day. So Leo and I decided that you needed a surprise. He helped make the snowflakes and hanging the lights while Ali supervised."

Wiping a tear that had managed to fall from her misty eyes, Teddy cleared her throat, her voice full of emotion, said, "It's beautiful. Leo did a great job with the snowflakes. They are my favorite part." as she snuggled the boy in his lap.

Upon hearing his name, Leo looked up at Owen and asked, "Can we put nornaments on da tree now, Daddy?"

Without waiting for Owen to answer, Teddy set the boy on his feet, scooped Ali from her resting place under the tree and began opening the box with the ornaments inside.

"I guess Mama says yes!" chuckled Owen as he watched the woman in front of him begin sorting through the ornaments with her free hand, looking for ones that would be safe for Leo to hang on the tree. "Leo come here. I have a special ornament I need you to hang for me."

The small boy waddled over to Owen, who whispered something in his ear, took the outstretched ornament, and went back to place it on the tree right in front of Teddy.

"Look, Mama!" Leo pointed. "It's for you!"

Teddy looked up from the box to see a silver ring adorned with a single diamond hanging from the branch directly in front of her. There was a big red tag attached that read "To: Teddy Love, Owen"

Quickly snapping her head over to look at him, Teddy realized that he was down on one knee, another spectacular smile spread across his face. "Let me have Ali for a second," he said, taking the infant from her mother and laying her back on the blanket beside her brother, who had gotten distracted by some of his toys and was now playing instead of hanging ornaments, completely oblivious of his parents.

Turning back to Teddy, he began, "I don't know if I've said this lately, but thank you for being one of the only constants in my life for the last fifteen years. Thank you for pushing past my stubbornness and loving me like no one ever has. Thank you for reminding me that it's okay to ask for help and needing help isn't weakness. Thank you for the beautiful creature that is our daughter. But most of all, thank you for taking a chance and starting this crazy, wonderful family with me and for becoming a mother to my son. Thank you for everything."

Tears were pouring down Teddy's cheeks as Owen reached over to take the ring from the tree. "I've had this since Megan's last visit. After she found out about Ali, she had Mom send it to me. It was her ring when she was married to Dad, and Megan said that since she had always knows we would end up together, she wanted me to give it to you when I proposed. Once Ali was born, life sort of turned into a whirlwind, and it stayed safely hidden away in my sock drawer, until I overheard Koraksic tell Katherine Fox that he would figure out how to win you back because I was never going to marry you and you deserve more of a life than what I was giving you."

"But that's not important to me!" Teddy reasoned. "I'm in love with you and that won't change no matter what Tom could ever do or say!"

Owen held up his free hand. "I know. Just let me finish." Taking a deep breath, the man gazed up into Teddy's eyes. "Even though, I knew that Tom wasn't going to, in his words "win you back," his comment stung. I mean here we are living together, with our kids, creating a family, and I haven't asked you the one thing I think I've wanted to since the day we met fifteen years ago because I'm afraid to mess up a good thing. But that's the thing, we can only get better because we are together. So I decided then and there that I was going to find the perfect moment because he was right about one thing, you deserve the world and more. When Mere called me, this seemed like the perfect plan because I knew how much you were looking forward to creating Christmas traditions with Leo and Ali. So now I want to know, Theodora Altman, mother of my children and the one I love more than I ever thought possible, will you marry me?"

With tears streaking down her face, Teddy laid her free hand on Owen's cheek and took a deep breath. "I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, Owen Hunt. All I need in this life is you and our children. Being your wife sounds like the best way to spend the rest of my life, so yes! Yes I'll marry you!."

Owen jumped to his feet before Teddy had a chance to change her mind and wrapped his arms around her, dipping her into a searing kiss. One hand lightly gripped her neck as the other snaked its way down the curve of her side, coming to rest on the small of her back. All the while, Teddy's nimble fingers entangled themselves in the short curls at the base of Owen's neck, anchoring his lips to hers as she pressed her body into his, a bolt of electricity running down her spine.

Once oxygen became a necessity, Owen slowly set Teddy upright; her knees a bit unsteady. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear as Owen slipped the ring on her waiting finger. When the ring was finally in place, Teddy placed another soft kiss on her fiance's lips.

Still wrapped in Owen's arms, she glanced over to where Leo had been playing and quickly realized that the small boy was no longer beside his toy box. Looking over to the tree, she found the sweetest sight. Leo and Ali snuggled together just under the branches of the tree, fast asleep. The small boy had an arm draped across his sister's stomach as if to keep her safe and warm. A quick nod of Teddy's head had Owen following her gaze to where their children lay.

Chuckling as he placed a soft kiss on Teddy's temple, Owen said, "I guess the tree will just have to wait until morning."

Eyes brimming with tears for the third time that night, Teddy whispered, "Best. Christmas. Ever."


End file.
